For the fourth consecutive year, the presidential candidate of
the Graduate Student Association is running uncontested, despite
efforts by the elections board to encourage graduate and
professional school students to run for offices.
Director of Elections Melanie Ho said the focus of the board was
in recruiting students to run in general, as none of the positions
were contested in last year’s election.
“We were definitely pleased to see the other three offices
contested “¦ the candidates are really enthusiastic and
committed in running for the offices,” she said.
She said she hopes this trend will continue and extend to the
presidential position for future elections.
The sole candidate, Hanish Rathod, an electrical engineering
graduate student, is also this year’s GSA external vice
president. He said that having the “know-how” of GSA
will give him a better foothold in becoming an effective
leader.
This year, Rathod has been participating as a board member in
the University of California Student Association and has worked on
a number of state and national campaigns, including the tax
exemptions and fee increases lobbying.
As the external vice president, he said he feels that, though
the position allows him to advocate effectively on graduate student
issues at the state and national level, becoming president would
give him more opportunities to guide the organization into the
direction he wanted it to go.
The current GSA President Charles Harless, Rathod said, has done
a good job, especially in fostering ties with the administration.
He said he wants to continue working in that direction, while at
the same time expanding the scope of issues the position deals
with.
“In order for GSA to be effective in working on graduate
student issues, it needs to develop strong ties with organizations
outside the university community,” he said.
As president, he added, he would continue on personally with his
current project in making graduate fellowships and scholarships
tax-exempt.
He also said he wants to work on developing a resource center
for graduate students as well as graduate student outreach
programs.
There is a lot of opportunity to develop resources for graduate
students, he said, and that it is just “a matter of finding
funding and figuring out what graduate students really
want.”
His plan for next year is to sit down with elected officers to
discuss and develop an overarching goal for all to work toward
alongside individual duties.
Harless said he believes Rathod is very qualified for the
position.
“He takes the initiative to find out what students think
about issues and doesn’t wait for problems to occur before
trying to solve them,” Harless said.
Rathod, he added, has the ability to create a relationship,
whether it be with the Student Alumni Association or graduate
students at other UC campuses. He is also willing to step in and
help other officers with their projects, Harless said.